5 Star Makeover: Icy Poached Fish

"Most of the famous French dishes involving filet of sole center around fish poached in white wine and coated with a lovely, creamy sauce made from the poaching liquid." 

Julia Child describes poaching fish fillets from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This month's 5 Star Makeover theme is Cooking with Wine. We can choose any classic dish where wine is a major ingredient and put our own unique spin on it.

Poached Red Snapper with Wine Ice
served with Mushroom Cream Sauce, Lemon Zest, and Scallions

I re-created Julia Child's Fish Filets Poached in White Wine and decided to present an icy, refreshing poached snapper dish surrounded with ice made from its poaching liquid, accompanied by a mushroom cream sauce, lemon zest, and scallions. For a light dish like poached fish, a low-tannin wine is most appropriate due to the lack of fat in this dish. Tannin and fattiness go hand in hand. So braised short ribs would go well with a bottle of Bordeaux or Cabernet, for example. In this case, I poached the fish in Pinot Grigio to avoid masking the light fish flavor with a high-tannin wine.

Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Fish Filets Poached in White Wine
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of finely chopped green onions
• 2.5lbs of skinless, boneless red snapper fillets
• Salt and pepper
• 1.5 tbsp of butter cut into bits
• 1.5 cups of Pinot Grigio and water mixture
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1 tbsp of flour
• A handful of small cremini mushrooms
• Lemon, for zesting

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a shallow fireproof baking dish that is about 2 inches deep.
2. Sprinkle half of the scallions in the bottom of the dish. Season fillets with salt and pepper.
3. Place fillets in dish and sprinkle remaining scallions over them, along with bits of butter.
4. Pour in wine/water mixture until fish is barely covered.
5. Bring dish almost to a simmer on stovetop. Lay a buttered paper over the fish, then bake for 10 minutes.
6. Remove fish and set on a plate to cool, then refrigerate. Pour 2/3 of the poaching liquid into a shallow dish and freeze for at least 2 hours.
7. Bring remaining poaching liquid to a boil on the stove and stir in 1 tbsp of butter, 1 tbsp of flour, 1 tsp of salt, a dash of pepper, and mushrooms. Boil sauce down until thickened. Leave in fridge to cool.
8. To serve, scrap poaching liquid ice with a fork. Place ice in a glass or bowl. Spoon a little bit of the mushroom sauce over the ice. Place a piece of fish over ice and sauce. Cover fish with more crushed ice. Sprinkle a little bit of lemon zest over the fish. Serve cold.

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

Thank you to Natasha from 5 Star Foodie and Laz from Lazaro Cooks! for hosting the 5 Star Makeover!

Try the Nutritious & Cleansing Niçoise

Sometimes I just crave a nutritious and cleansing dinner, especially near the end of the week when a fun-filled/food-filled weekend is fast approaching. I love salads but I usually prefer to pair them with protein or grains. There is one salad that pretty much has it all - an almost forgotten Niçoise Salad.  


Niçoise Salad

I like to think of Niçoise Salad as the "prettier" version of an American Cobb Salad (though I must admit that the Cobb is just as good). It is a specialty of Cote D'Azur and named for the City of Nice. If you find the salad tedious (in relation to other types of salads), you can prep for the dressing and most of the ingredients hours or the day before and store them in separate ziplock bags. All you have to do before you eat is cook the remaining ingredients and toss all of it in the herb-infused olive oil dressing!

Niçoise Salad (recipe from Simply Recipes)
Serves 4-6
Ingredients

Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad

• 2-3 cans of tuna
• 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and either halved or quartered
• 10 small new red potatoes (each about 2 inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 pounds total), each potato scrubbed and quartered
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 medium heads Boston lettuce or butter lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths
• 1 small red onion, sliced very thin (soak in cold water for a few minutes to get rid of the sharp taste)
• 8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise
• 1/4 cup niçoise olives (you can substitue kalamata if you can't find niçoise, but they are usually available at the store's salad bar)

Recipe

1. Whisk lemon juice, oil, thyme, shallot, basil, oregano, and mustard in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.
3. While potatoes are cooking, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. Arrange bed of lettuce on a large plate or serving platter (yes, I used a silver platter). Coat tuna with vinaigrette. Mound tuna in center of lettuce. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture on the lettuce bed. Arrange reserved potatoes in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.
4. Return water to boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to reserved ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds; dry beans well. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste; arrange in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.
5. Arrange hard boiled eggs and olives in mounds on the lettuce bed. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, drizzle entire salad with more dressing (if there is any left), and serve immediately.

Crab Noodles in Oyster Sauce

Don't be deceived by its simplicity. This Cantonese noodle dish is often served at parties and get togethers because of the incredible oyster sauce infused noodles. Deep fried noodles are typically used, but I used regular egg noodles instead for the sake of health. It makes a quick yet fancy dinner.

Crab Noodles in Oyster Sauce

I discovered the secret to buying lump crab meat at a good price: Costco. Whenever I visit, I can never resist grabbing a jar. With one entire pound of delicious crab meat, I usually end up making crab cakes, but tonight I wanted to try something new. This dish definitely does it for me!

Crab Noodles in Oyster Sauce
Serves 2 to 4
Ingredients

• 1 package of egg noodles (usually serves 3)
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1/2 lb of lump crab meat
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp of ginger, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp of sesame oil
• Sauce (1 cup of chicken broth, 1.5 tbsp of oyster sauce, 3 tsp of soy sauce, 1/2 tsp of sugar)
• Starch water (mix 1 tsp of corn starch and 1 tbsp of water in a small bowl)
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Recipe

1. Follow package instructions to cook egg noodles. 
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Fry shallots for a minute and add ginger and half of the green onions. 
3. Mix sauce in a small bowl and add to saute pan. Bring the sauce to a boil. Add cooked and drained egg noodles to pan and simmer noodles on low until most of the liquid has been absorbed (approximately 5 minutes). Mix in remaining green onions and sesame oil. Remove noodle mixture and keep warm in a covered bowl.
4. Add chicken broth to the original pan and turn the heat up to high. Bring broth to a boil and add crab meat. Bring it to a boil again and add starch water. Cook until it's thickened to your liking, then fold in egg white. Cook for another minute or two while stirring gently.  
5. Place some noodles in a bowl and scoop a little crab meat mixture on top. Garnish with cilantro if you desire. Serve warm.